Will Duterte run for VP in 2022? Palace says President wants to return to Davao

President Rodrigo Duterte plans to go back to his hometown Davao City when he leaves Malacañang in June 2022, his spokesperson Harry Roque said Monday.

Roque made the statement after chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo broached the idea of the President running as vice president to his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, should she seek the nation’s highest office in 2022.

"Ang pagkakaalam ko po eh, atat na atat na si Presidenteng matapos ang kanyang termino at gusto na niyang umuwi dito sa Davao," Roque said at a news conference.

"Iyong Duterte-Duterte tandem po na sinasabi ni Secretary Panelo, iyan po ay kanyang personal na opinyon," he added.

Panelo, in his commentary program last Friday, hinted that the President and Mayor Sara will make a formidable tandem in the May 2022 elections. He also claimed that the opposition and left-leaning groups did not know how to react to such a possibility.

Duterte is constitutionally barred from seeking another term as president but can run for other elective positions.

His predecessors, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Estrada, had served as a member of Congress and Manila mayor, respectively, after leaving the presidency. Duterte has repeatedly assured the public that he would not stay a minute longer once his six-year term ends. 

In the past, the President even offered to resign due to frustration over the alleged continuing corruption in government, which he vowed to reduce to the barest minimum under his watch. —KBK, GMA News